I'm an Assistant Professor of Economics at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, a Research Fellow with the Oakland, California-based Independent Institute, a Senior Fellow with the Beacon Center of Tennessee, and a Senior Research Fellow with the Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics. I'm on Twitter: @artcarden.

The Best Question I've Heard This Week: "What Could You Do For Me?"

How often have you heard this from someone handing you a business card? How often have you said it to someone to whom you’ve just handed a business card? I was a little unprepared for what came next during one of these mundane transactions a few days ago.

“Well, what could you do for me?”

The question came from a Rhodes student named Eric Stockhausen. We had just met for the first time; he graciously agreed to let me mention him by name in this article. I had just emceed a presentation by Jason Womack, my favorite thinker on workplace performance, and I was meeting people and shaking hands afterward.

Even though I was thinking about how I could connect with people and help them connect with one another, I have to confess that Eric’s response to my offer put me back on my heels a bit. I’ve always hated saying “let me know what I can do for you” at or near the end of a conversation because it sounds insincere (I assure you, it isn’t) and because I do genuinely want to find ways to improve the lives of the people I meet. I hadn’t really thought of a better way to convey that, but Eric’s question really made me think: what can I do for people?

At a broader level, where and what are the social conventions I don’t usually think about but that are keeping me from being more effective as a teacher, scholar, writer, husband, father, friend, and so on? Even more broadly, what can I do to improve the lives of others? And if you’re curious, I recommended that Eric look up the Institute for Humane Studies–for whom I serve as an Adjunct Program Officer–and invited Eric to an IHS seminar we’re hosting at Rhodes in a few weeks.

So here’s what I’m going to do. I’m sure it’s hardly an original idea, and I think I might possibly vaguely remember reading something about someone somewhere doing something like this. Instead of putting the ball in someone else’s court and saying “here’s my business card; write me an email if I can do something for you,” I’m going to be more intentional about asking people what, specifically, I can do for them. Or, if I can think of something right off the bat, I’m going to go ahead and make a note to myself and find a way to do it.

This might seem like it’s time-consuming, perhaps even wasteful. I don’t think it is. Yes, there’s a sense in which you’re inviting people to make demands on your time, energy, and attention. Managed poorly, such invitations can create stress and a sense of being overwhelmed by people pulling you in every direction. At the same time, however, such invitations create opportunities. One of Jason Womack’s favorite questions is “who do you know who…”; with a bit of reflection, note that this is a question you ask whenever you ask someone to recommend a plumber, a contractor, a lawn service, a dentist, or any of a number of other goods and services. Demonstrating an ability to do things for people makes it much more likely that you’re the answer to “who do you know who…” when others ask it of them.

Eric’s question was the best question I’ve heard all week. He asked on Thursday, and I’m still thinking about it on Saturday. Information is costly, information is valuable, and the Bible is right in Proverbs 22:1 (ESV): “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and is better than silver and gold.” Finding ways to do things for others can be an important step toward establishing a good name.

*-Disclosures: I did some contract work for the Womack Company in early 2011. I do contract work for IHS. While I’m doing things for people, if you live in Memphis and are looking for a good lawn-and-landscape company, we use my friend Wesley Wright’s company. I have received (and expect) no valuable consideration from Wright Landscapings in exchange for linking to them in this article. With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I’ve included a couple of links to articles on gift-giving I wrote around Christmas that you might find useful again. I’m recalling Eric’s question from memory as I think I forgot to write it down; he might have said “can” instead of “could.”

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